04-30-2006, 09:34 AM
If you haven't seen it-
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 - 04:00 AM
Allen Gregory
Sports Writer
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JOHNSON CITY ? The future of East Tennessee State University athletics was unveiled Saturday afternoon.
And to paraphrase school president Dr. Paul Stanton, the vision is grand.
In a press conference before the annual ETSU women?s alumni soccer game, Stanton and Director of Athletics Dave Mullins updated media members and the campus community on building plans for seven athletic venues.
?We never had a master plan for athletics at ETSU. In fact, I?m not sure we planned very much at all,? Stanton said.
In 2005, Stanton announced an ambitious $224 capital campaign that will continue for nine and a half years. According to Stanton, athletics will take up roughly half of the ?The Reaching Higher Campaign.?
The first facility to be completed was the privately-funded $2.4 million Warren-Greene Golf Center in 2004. Facilities for softball, soccer, baseball, tennis, track and field and basketball are planned.
?Folks, I pledge to you that we?re going to get it done,? Stanton said.
?We?re extremely fortunate to have David Mullins as our director of athletics. I?ve haven?t worked with a finer director in my 22 years at ETSU. With his vision and planning process, we have these plans for venues that are going to get built.?
A total of $3 million in funding has already been secured for the first phase of the athletics plan.
The soccer complex, currently under construction, will include two practice facilities and a lighted stadium field with seating for nearly 1,000.
?Soccer is going to be one of our stellar programs as we develop it,? Stanton said. ?We will follow with the softball complex, then go on to tennis, baseball, track and field and the basketball arena.?
Mullins said men?s soccer will be introduced at the club level in the fall of 2007, with a full varsity team to follow the following year.
?We think having men?s and women?s soccer will be an exciting thing for our campus and community,? Mullins said.
ETSU officials also hope the community will be excited by the long-range plans for the $10 million baseball facility and $50 million basketball arena.
?Dr. Stanton?s vision has challenged us,? Mullins said. ?We have great volunteers working with us and the institution is supporting the projects. We need help from alumni, friends and corporate groups who are interested in helping.?
A bridge, dubbed the ?The Pathway to Excellence,? would be designed to lead from the soccer field to the tennis facility, which would feature 12 outdoor courts with stadium seating and six indoor courts.
The softball field, which would face the mountains, would include a indoor hitting facility. Designs for the baseball facility, to be located just off campus, features a Camden Yards-type appeal.
?We really haven?t started the fundraising for baseball,? Mullins said. ?We?re looking at partnerships and corporate naming opportunities.?
ETSU officials also plan to work with county, city and corporate representatives on the basketball arena projects.
One possible funding avenue for tennis would be to work with a development company and then operate it as a club with memberships.
?We?ve got about 1,000 members of the Mountain Empire Tennis Association that don?t have a lot of indoor places to play,? Mullins said.
Meanwhile, the ETSU women?s soccer family is ready for the future.
?Our program has made huge strides, and it?s been a dream to eventually have a stadium on campus,? head coach Heather Henson said. ?We?ve had a city facility and it?s been great.
?Now we?re ready for the next step for soccer, and in all our athletic programs.?
Kristen Redfern, who played at ETSU from 1998-2001, recalls the early days of the soccer program where players and parents removed rocks on their practice field.
?I think every player who came here between 1997 and 1999 considered transferring,? Redfern said. ?We had a facility that was off-campus, and it was set up for track and field. We had talented players, but not enough. And we had a practice field that was literally a death trap.
?The players and staff deserved to have a place to call home, and now they have it.?
Meghan Morris, a current senior on the soccer team, feels the new complex will help the program reach the next level.
?We?ve worked really hard to put ETSU soccer on the map,? Morris said. ?With this new stadium, it?s a very loud statement that we are here to stay.?
The ETSU president hopes that loud statement will reverberate throughout the community and be answered in terms of dollars. He also hopes the momentum and positive public relations will eventually wash away lingering resentment over the death of the Buccaneer football program.
?When you build athletic fields, it indicates that your university is moving forward with some excitement,? Stanton said.
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 - 04:00 AM
Allen Gregory
Sports Writer
Send e-mail
Email to a Friend Printer Friendly
JOHNSON CITY ? The future of East Tennessee State University athletics was unveiled Saturday afternoon.
And to paraphrase school president Dr. Paul Stanton, the vision is grand.
In a press conference before the annual ETSU women?s alumni soccer game, Stanton and Director of Athletics Dave Mullins updated media members and the campus community on building plans for seven athletic venues.
?We never had a master plan for athletics at ETSU. In fact, I?m not sure we planned very much at all,? Stanton said.
In 2005, Stanton announced an ambitious $224 capital campaign that will continue for nine and a half years. According to Stanton, athletics will take up roughly half of the ?The Reaching Higher Campaign.?
The first facility to be completed was the privately-funded $2.4 million Warren-Greene Golf Center in 2004. Facilities for softball, soccer, baseball, tennis, track and field and basketball are planned.
?Folks, I pledge to you that we?re going to get it done,? Stanton said.
?We?re extremely fortunate to have David Mullins as our director of athletics. I?ve haven?t worked with a finer director in my 22 years at ETSU. With his vision and planning process, we have these plans for venues that are going to get built.?
A total of $3 million in funding has already been secured for the first phase of the athletics plan.
The soccer complex, currently under construction, will include two practice facilities and a lighted stadium field with seating for nearly 1,000.
?Soccer is going to be one of our stellar programs as we develop it,? Stanton said. ?We will follow with the softball complex, then go on to tennis, baseball, track and field and the basketball arena.?
Mullins said men?s soccer will be introduced at the club level in the fall of 2007, with a full varsity team to follow the following year.
?We think having men?s and women?s soccer will be an exciting thing for our campus and community,? Mullins said.
ETSU officials also hope the community will be excited by the long-range plans for the $10 million baseball facility and $50 million basketball arena.
?Dr. Stanton?s vision has challenged us,? Mullins said. ?We have great volunteers working with us and the institution is supporting the projects. We need help from alumni, friends and corporate groups who are interested in helping.?
A bridge, dubbed the ?The Pathway to Excellence,? would be designed to lead from the soccer field to the tennis facility, which would feature 12 outdoor courts with stadium seating and six indoor courts.
The softball field, which would face the mountains, would include a indoor hitting facility. Designs for the baseball facility, to be located just off campus, features a Camden Yards-type appeal.
?We really haven?t started the fundraising for baseball,? Mullins said. ?We?re looking at partnerships and corporate naming opportunities.?
ETSU officials also plan to work with county, city and corporate representatives on the basketball arena projects.
One possible funding avenue for tennis would be to work with a development company and then operate it as a club with memberships.
?We?ve got about 1,000 members of the Mountain Empire Tennis Association that don?t have a lot of indoor places to play,? Mullins said.
Meanwhile, the ETSU women?s soccer family is ready for the future.
?Our program has made huge strides, and it?s been a dream to eventually have a stadium on campus,? head coach Heather Henson said. ?We?ve had a city facility and it?s been great.
?Now we?re ready for the next step for soccer, and in all our athletic programs.?
Kristen Redfern, who played at ETSU from 1998-2001, recalls the early days of the soccer program where players and parents removed rocks on their practice field.
?I think every player who came here between 1997 and 1999 considered transferring,? Redfern said. ?We had a facility that was off-campus, and it was set up for track and field. We had talented players, but not enough. And we had a practice field that was literally a death trap.
?The players and staff deserved to have a place to call home, and now they have it.?
Meghan Morris, a current senior on the soccer team, feels the new complex will help the program reach the next level.
?We?ve worked really hard to put ETSU soccer on the map,? Morris said. ?With this new stadium, it?s a very loud statement that we are here to stay.?
The ETSU president hopes that loud statement will reverberate throughout the community and be answered in terms of dollars. He also hopes the momentum and positive public relations will eventually wash away lingering resentment over the death of the Buccaneer football program.
?When you build athletic fields, it indicates that your university is moving forward with some excitement,? Stanton said.